Playing Time of CDs

In the Red Book, Philips recommends that the playing time of a Compact Disc should not exceed 74 minutes 30 seconds. If you exceed this, our glass mastering engineers will have to start compressing the data. This is done in 2 ways:

1. Smaller linear pitch: the gap between each pit is reduced.
2. Tighter track spacing: the space between each track is reduced.

The undesirable effects of doing this would be cross talk (picking up the data from an adjacent track) and thus introducing a degree of distortion or jitter.

Although most newer CD players have advanced optics and circuitry to eliminate these artifacts on long playing discs, the chances of these errors will depend on the quality of the spindle holding the disc. ie: if the player is cheap and it causes the disc to wobble in the player, the greater chance of defects will be audible.

A general rule of thumb is that if it fits on a CD-R then we can replicate it. Some discs can go up to 80 min. depending on the software that burns your audio, but realize that once you exceed red book (74:30) the data tracks will start to compress.

CDman can not warranty masters that exceed 74:30 min/sec.

Depending on the circumstances of your track pitch, exceedingly long masters may require a hold be placed on your disc (but be warned that this is not in all cases) and ask that you to sign a waiver to proceed with your replication. If your master is over 74:30 and you wish to avoid potential delays, consider downloading the following PDF, and include with your order forms:

Download Red Book Waiver Form